Basel Music Academy’s renowned Electronic Studio Basel (ESB) is being upgraded with Lawo IP technology, enabling future prospective sound engineers to train on a pair Lawo mc²36 audio consoles and accompanying compact I/O units. The Lawo installation at the Basel Music Academy (Musikakademie Basel) will also be used for recording contemporary electronic compositions, performed by ensembles small and large, as well as full orchestra.

The new mixing system was installed by Swiss system integrator SLC Broadcast, and includes two identical 24-fader Lawo mc²36 consoles and corresponding interfaces (supporting Madi, Ravenna, AES/EBU, analogue operation). The two stageboxes each provide 32 mic/line inputs, 32 line outputs, eight digital AES3 inputs, eight digital AES3 outputs, eight GPIO, a Ravenna port, and a Madi Tie-Line Port (SFP).

Also part of the upgrade are Horus and Hapi audio interfaces from Merging Technologies.

Great importance was placed on the scalability of the components during the selection of equipment for the upgrade. From small mobile recordings to large live concerts with parallel recording, the audio systems are required to use the same digital interfaces and network topology. For large ensembles with simultaneous recording, all components – including virtual soundcards on laptops – are called into use. The flexibility of the Lawo IP-based configuration also makes it possible to work on several projects at the same time.

The Academy places a high value on the use of technology and equipment in its audio training, especially in the areas of studio recording and sound reinforcement. In addition to the theoretical teaching of ‘audio design’, the opportunity for students to work on a modern mixing console system is also essential. Audio design, as described by Volker Böhm who heads the course, is the ‘technical artistic implementation of computer-aided composition’.

See also:
WSDG completes SRF’s new Studio Basel

More: www.lawo.com